Afterglow
by emilymer80
Summary: It has been over a century since the events in Breaking Dawn and nothing is how it was...


**CHAPTER ONE**

She knew the moment he entered the bar. She recognized his smell. An intense combination of cedar and leather that broke through the thick smoke in the air. She took a deep drag of her cigarette and didn't turn around to look at him. If he was here, he knew she was too.

The bar was full, but she could still pick out his footsteps as he made his way through the crowd to her. He had a distinct gait, one that was formed by an injury he suffered in his human life. It hadn't bothered him in centuries, but it had once, enough to shape his step as he finally came to a stop at her side.

He stood close to her, watching as she took another drag of her cigarette with one hand and played with her untouched glass of whiskey with the other.

"Hello, Jasper," she finally said with a half smile, looking up at his expectant face.

He smiled back, although it never reached his eyes. "Isn't smoking in bars against the law in New York?"

She looked around the small subterranean bar. She was one of more than a dozen patrons smoking despite the ban in the city. Of course, this wasn't the type of place that was enforcing anything, especially the law.

"So is stalking," she replied.

He laughed. The sound was warm and rich and broke the tension. "Mind if I sit down?"

She nodded to the stool beside her and smiled when he took it. God, she'd missed him. She didn't realize just how much until now, as he got comfortable next to her and took off his coat.

"You drinking that?" he asked, looking at her glass suspiciously.

She shook her head. "No. I like the smell."

He arched a curious eyebrow at her as she brought the glass up to her nose and inhaled deeply.

"Charlie would drink it sometimes. On special occasions," she continued, putting the whiskey back down on the bar. She hadn't talked about her father in decades, probably over a century, yet the mention of his name brought a fresh stab of pain to her chest. "What do you want, Jasper?"

He leaned closer, a sly half smile on his face. "Aren't you the least bit interested in how I found you?"

"I wasn't hiding."

"Well, but you're not exactly checking in with the family these days either, are you?"

She didn't reply, staring straight ahead to the shelves of liquor behind the bar.

"When was the last time you were home?" His tone was still light, but she could feel his energy tighten as he picked his words carefully. She turned to look at him and knew she was right; his expression was wary and waiting.

"About four hours ago. I have an apartment just a few blocks away, really beautiful space. Used to be a factory a few hundred years ago, probably about the time you were born."

His lips straightened into a thin line. "That's not what I meant."

She smiled bitterly and took another drag of her cigarette. "I know what you meant."

"Listen, Bella-"

"Isabella. My name is Isabella," she corrected him. "Bella is a child's name. You know that, Jasper."

He nodded.

"Can I get you anything?" The bartender appeared in front of them and leaned toward Jasper. She was young, probably a student, and pretty and completely enamored with him. But of course she was. That was just nature, wasn't it?

"Well, Jasper? Can she?" Isabella asked suggestively. How many years had it been and he still struggled to control his urges? He had made progress, even just a few decades ago a bar like this would have been too much of a temptation, yet even now it was there. His need for blood. Human blood.

She could see his pupils dilate, but he shook his head lazily. "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

The bartender nodded and smiled before turning, swinging her hips as she left. Isabella smiled.

"She liked you."

"Isabella-"

"How's Alice?"

Jasper stopped and stared at her for a moment. "She's fine. Misses you."

She waited for a pang of guilt, regret, anything. Nothing came. "Tell her I said hello."

"Is that it?"

She turned to face him fully and leaned forward. "What else do you want?"

"For Christ's sake," he growled and she felt a rush of relief. His anger was growing, simmering just below the placid surface he worked so hard to maintain. She welcomed it; Jasper would only be honest if he was angry, when he allowed himself to be who he truly was. What he truly was.

"Did he send you?" she hissed, just loud enough for him to hear.

He returned her hard gaze with one of his own. "I'm not his errand boy."

"And I'm not your sister. Not anymore," she bit back.

His eyes darted around the bar and she could see the frustration set in his bar. "Jesus, Isabella."

She shook her head. "Sorry, that was out of line."

He sighed, leaning his elbows on the bar. "No, I'm sorry. This is not how I pictured this playing out."

"How did you picture it playing out?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

He shrugged. "A catch up on life, what you've been doing all these years. I heard you just got back from Europe."

She nodded.

"How was it?"

A small grin turned up the corners of her mouth. "Incredible."

His expression warmed. "That's great."

"How did you know that?"

He smiled. "You're not the only one with friends around the world, you know."

She laughed and rested her head in her hand. "I told you I wasn't hiding."

"And I'm not stalking."

She sighed and studied his face. He had a noble brow and in the low light of the bar he looked like a man out of time, one who belonged in an age of honor and chivalry. Someone now so very lost in this era and his place in it.

"It's good to see you, Jasper," she finally said.

He was watching her closely, an intimate survey that would have made her blush if she had any warm blood in her veins.

"But you have to go," he said.

"I didn't say that."

"Yet. You didn't say that yet," he murmured, disappointment thick in his voice.

She smiled. He was right, of course. He always was. Even in the early days, when she thought she was happy, when she didn't know any better, Jasper had an eerie way of telling her the truth before she realized it herself.

"Come on," she said, putting out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" he asked, surprised.

"I told you, my apartment is around the corner." She slid off her stool and left a twenty on the bar. When she turned to look at him, she found him watching her cautiously. "Don't worry. I won't bite."

The joke wasn't lost on him and he let a crooked smile overtake his mouth. She smiled back. He was there for a reason and she knew it. Now it was just a matter of time before he told her what that reason was.

"Alright, let's go," he murmured.

Jasper followed her as she snaked through the crowd, making her way to the exit. She could feel his presence close behind, a shadow that overwhelmed her thoughts so much that she almost missed the other presence. But suddenly she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she knew.

He was there.

She didn't turn around to look around the crowded bar, but she knew. He was there, watching their escape from one of the darkened corners.

He had found her.


End file.
